The world looks up to the rich and powerful. Being ‘counter-cultural’ Christians, we know that in the large scheme of things no one is as rich and powerful as God for He created and owns everything. Our God is also personal and communicative. In Matthew 6:19-21, Jesus counsels us not to store treasures on earth, where they are subject to decay and vulnerable to thefts. Instead, we are encouraged to store up our treasures in Heaven, for there our treasures will be everlasting. And then Jesus pointed out that where our treasure is, there will our hearts be also.
As God’s children, we are inspired to adopt a mindset for eternity and to be rich towards God. What does it mean to be rich towards God? The mention of our hearts being where our treasure are speaks of a person’s attitude and priorities. Further into the book of Matthew we find the Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25:14-30). This parable has much to teach us on the subject, and recently Pr Chris Kam expounded on it.
The Parable of the Talents is simple in its narrative. A merchant goes away on a trip but before he does so, he hands differing amounts of bags of gold to three of his servants. The servants with five and two bags invested the gold and doubled the amount they had and was commended on the master’s return.
The servant who was given one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground, and hid his master’s money. Upon hearing of this on his return, the master’s wrath was aroused and this servant was banished from his presence. While simple in its structure and telling, like many other simple things, there is a profound depth in this parable, particularly when we look at its context.
Pr Chris conveyed that the parable was told by Jesus to His disciples while on the Mount of Olives where He also shared about the Kingdom of God. The parable was meant for believers and followers of Christ who knew about the Kingdom of God. Furthermore, it has a context within the end times and about what the Kingdom of God is like. We know this because Jesus began the parable with the word “again” giving the connotation that He was emphasising on the Kingdom of God of which He had spoken just before.
In today’s context, these bags of gold would amount to RM6m, RM2.4m and RM1.2m respectively. They were worth 20 years of wages! Why did the master give the three servants differing amounts of the bags of gold? The master must have known each of them really well as he had given them the gold according to their abilities.
Motivation made the difference between the first two servants and the third. The first and second servants were faithful and diligent towards the master. They understood the master and they took what the master had invested in them seriously. In return, they gladly invested their gold. The third servant’s primary motivation was fear of the master. His overruling passion was an avoidance of punishment and he stalled there and did not give further thought to his one bag of gold after he had buried it. The rebuke was that he was one who was wicked (disobedient) and lazy. The parable speaks volumes about responsibility.
Pr Chris shared that the parable of the talents is in the same line as that of the sower. In the parable of the sower, seed and soil, we find that there is the same sower, same seed but four different soils. In this parable of the gold bags, we find the same master, same gold but three different servants. In all of this, what can we learn about richness towards God? There are 8 lessons we can learn, with the big idea being the call to invest in the ‘bags of gold’ that God has given to each of us. Here are 8 lessons that we can glean from this parable:
1.Jesus is coming back
The context of the parable is of Jesus’s Second Coming. He is the master who will leave and return someday.
2. We are all given gold (Deuteronomy 8:18)
God has given every believer certain gifts, each to our abilities. They are given generously and sufficiently to us so that we may be able to carry out what He has called us to do. In the parable, the master gave his servant bags of gold, but what God has given to us are often deeper and more valuable. These gifts may consist of natural talents, spiritual gifts, assets, influence and power. Everything that God gave belongs to Him. We own nothing because we came with nothing and we will one day leave with nothing.
3. God expects His disciples to be investors
Be good stewards with all that He has deposited into our lives (money, talent, gifts, family, home etc), and make our investments count. God has called us to be fruitful (with an aim to reap a 100-fold crop). With hard work and faithfulness, every effort we make will count.
4. God distributes the gold according to our abilities (Mark 12:41-44)
The different amounts of bags of gold also tells us that God distributes His gifts judiciously according to our abilities. It is not for us to compare ourselves with others. Every little thing we do counts and it is the posture of our hearts that matter. The first two servants did not compare their number of bags but just went and diligently do what they were called to do. The widow gave her last two coins and it was accounted to her a thousand-fold what the self-righteous priests gave. Even if it is just one thing that God is telling you to do, do it wholeheartedly.
5. It is up to us to decide how well we will use this gold and examine the motive why we do what we do (Matthew 7:21-23)
The first two servants were faithful. They did not hesitate but went off immediately to invest in their master’s gold so that it may grow. They understood that the gold did not belong to them and they honoured the master. The third servant buried his bag in the ground. What you do in this life matters to God.
6. God separates believers who are nominal and those who are true followers of Christ
Like the third servant, nominal Christians tend to have the mindset that having their ticket to heaven secured is sufficient. We need to know the Father’s will and calling for our lives. He has called us according to His will and to have purpose-driven lives. True followers don’t stop at knowing about God. They know God.
7. Jesus will return and hold us to account what we do with our lives (2 Corinthians 5:10, Revelation 20:11-15)
On the day when Christ comes again, there will be two types of judgments that will be carried out. At the ‘Great White Throne’, God will divide the people between those who believe and those who do not believe in Jesus.
Those who believe have their names already written in the Book of Life. They will next appear before the ‘Judgment Seat of Christ’ where they will be measured according to their gold investments. It is no longer about the judgement for salvation. Salvation is just in the initial stage when we say that we believe in Christ.
8. Faithful believers will be rewarded ( Revelation 22:12, 1 Corinthians 3:10b-15, Matthew 25:21 )
In Greek, the ‘Judgement Seat of Christ’ is written as Βήμα (bêma) which can be liken to a victory platform where we will ultimately stand on and receive God’s commendation and rewards according to what we have done. Hopefully the results of our work are like gold, silver or costly stones and not of wood, hay and straw.
Serving in the Kingdom of God may not always be easy. Many of us may have to endure pain and burdens. Nevertheless, God is right beside us, and this gives us strength to strive on, till the day we can hear God saying to us, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”
In the beginning we may start with just a few things, but if we are faithful, the gifts will grow. Someday God will call us for larger things and put us in charge of many things. This is what it is to be rich towards God, ever growing in maturity and in His gifting and calling. It starts with the right posture, the right soil for our hearts, the right attitude, and with utmost devotion and faithfulness towards God and the Kingdom of God.
Article based on a sermon given by Pr Chris Kam in DUMC on 13th and 14th January 2023. The full sermon can be viewed on DUMC’s YouTube page at https://youtu.be/1wef6eQfglg?feature=shared
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